It is common practice across a wide range of industries to adapt a vehicle by mounting an implement to the front or rear of the vehicle.
For example, an agricultural tractor usually includes a three-point hitch at the front (or rear) of the vehicle to allow, for example, a thresher or grader blade to be added. Other useful implements include mowers, fertiliser spinners, and carry trays. The ability to mount an implement to the vehicle increases its versatility.
However, for many vehicles, such as a ride-on mower, it is not practical to have a hitching or towing system.
For example, a Walker™ ride-on mower includes a dedicated mowing deck at the front of the vehicle. The presence of the mowing deck makes a hitching system impractical to mount to the front of the mower.
It may be possible to mount an extra implement, such as a spray boom, to the rear of a Walker™ ride-on mower to increase its versatility. However, mounting an implement to the rear of the ride-on mower does have its disadvantages.
Many optional implements, such as a spray boom, require for their effective use a clear field of vision for the user of the ride-on mower. Clearly, this is problematic when the implement is attached to the rear of the ride-on mower.
A spray boom is often used to disperse chemicals such as herbicides or pesticides, and these tend to be toxic to humans and other animals. Therefore, care is usually required when applying such chemicals in areas such as parks or playgrounds when pet animals or children may play.
Furthermore, care needs to be taken when applying chemicals to the surface to be treated. Repeated application of chemicals to an area already treated is wasteful of the chemicals.
Therefore, for many implements, it is necessary for the user of the ride-on mower to constantly check behind him or her that the implement is functioning as intended, but at the same time navigating the vehicle. It will be appreciated that this slows down whatever task the user is working on.
Other optional implements for ride-on mowers may include a fertiliser spinner or a retractable spray hose connected to a fluid reservoir for handgun spraying. Furthermore, many ride-on mowers (or indeed other small vehicles) are not provided with arrangements for mounting implements such as these even to the rear of the vehicle. This is particularly true of small automobiles or the like.
In order to utilise such a vehicle, a tow ball or hitch system needs to be purchased and installed on the vehicle before any towed implements may be used.
Typically, such installations are permanent. In some cases, the user of the vehicle may prefer not to have a permanent arrangement for mounting implements to the vehicle.
In order to fit implements to a vehicle it is often necessary to use extra tools such as allen keys or the like. The use of these small fiddly tools can add to the time required to install the required implement.
It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.
All references, including any patents or patent applications cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein; this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents form part of the common general knowledge in the art, in New Zealand or in any other country.
Throughout this specification, the word “comprise”, or variations thereof such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.
Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.